Crashing through the glass
by sugarhype
Summary: Alice left, but she couldn't stay from underland for long... She's going back, to fight the uprising of the Red Queen, to find herself, and to conclude her puzzling relationship with a certain Hat-maker.
1. Prologue

Crashing Through the Glass

By: Sugarhype

((A/N: I just saw Alice the other day, and that ending SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. She should have stayed! So, I have decided to fanfiction on it to my little heart's content! Enjoy!))

* * *

Disclaimer: I own a mad hatter Shirt, a mad hatter poster, and an Alice artbook. I do not own the movie, actors, or book the movie is based on. You no sue, I poor.

Gone. She was gone. Why was she gone? He did not know why, just that she was. Oh, how he had wanted to tell her how he really felt. But he would not get a chance to. No, not now, or ever. It was a sad day on a joyous occasion. Truly. He faked his way through the necessary pleasantries, then excused himself away, Back to his neverending tea party with the hare and Mally.

Mallymkun tried to cheer him up, obviously. But she could see that there was no cheering the melancholy milliner she shared the table with. It was evident on his clothes and in his eyes. He barely even seemed to care that the china was cracking or that there was a leaf stuck to his cheek. The madness had calmed, but it was replaced by something rather dark.

While Alice was making her life away from Underland, the residents of the place she had left behind were trying to rebuild under the good white queen. They fared well, wonderfully, in fact. The horrid castle of Iracebeth was torn down brick by brick, and even the twisted trees began to bud again. Soon everyone was once again happy and celebratory.

Minus the deposed Red Queen, of course. She was forced away from all of civilized Underland, made to live alone with her knave, Stayn. A few weeks after the White Queen's decree, his headless body was found afloat in a river leading away from the twisted woods of the west. It quickly became known to all little children that Iracebeth wandered towns late at night looking for naughty children to behead.

Chessur could be found in fewer places than he couldn't, McTwisp was forever afraid of being late, the Bandersnatch became known more as the cuddly pet of the current Queen than as the brutish enforcer of the previous, and Underland was once again peaceful.

Of course, everyone knows that the most boring of stories are those that end with "Happily ever after." Because we all know something had to come next. And it did.


	2. Chapter 1

Crashing Through the Glass

Chapter 1

Alice was afraid. The pirates had snuck up on them, hiding around the coast of the island. The ship's Capitan had ushered her into his quarters and locked her inside, to protect her. She could see through the windows that the dark ship was dangerously close. Then a cannonball sailed through the window and crashed through the wooden wall, nearly beheading her.

Shortly thereafter, the sounds of new boarders reached her ears. There was shouting and noise of gunfire and the horrible screech of metal on metal. She grabbed at the loaded gun the Capitan kept on the desk and fearfully pointed it at the door, praying the crew could repel the invaders.

Alas, they could not. A few moments later, one of the pirates broke down the door. He took one look at her, and grinned. Alice tried to shoot him, but missed him by a fair distance. Fortunately, the noise shocked him enough so Alice could dash past. She ran past him, into the fray.

Out of the corner of one eye, she thought she saw something, or rather some_one_ familiar. A name came to her lips. _Tarrant?_ But no, it was the Capitan of the pirates, a wild-eyed man with various trinkets tied into his hair. Not the funny hat-man of her dreams.

She ran into the hold, to hopefully hide there until she could properly escape. They had just picked up a rather large load of various items from the Chinese, so there was plenty of places a young woman could hide. She was trying to find a suitable place when a voice called out behind her.

"Oi! You there, girl!" he shouted. "Come back here!"

Alice gasped and ran deeper into the shadows. She had to find a place to hide, and fast. But it seemed that the deeper she went, the less places there were to hide. All of them were too small or not concealed enough. She finally reached the wall. On one side of her, was a square object covered by a heavy cloth. On the other side, was a keg of pepper. Behind her, the pirate called most menacingly.

"Come 'ere, poppet, I promise I won't hurt you…" He called, getting closer by the moment. Alice dove under the square object, placing the heavy cloth so as to block an attacker's view of her hiding place. When he was three feet away from her hiding spot, he shot above the object, which had turned out to be a mirror. She flinched, and the mirror slid forward, producing a horrible shriek of wood on wood.

"I know you're there, poppet. Now come out and we'll all have a nice_ chat._" She could hear the venom in that statement. She couldn't see him pulling the cloth off the mirror and herself, not until it was far too late. He pulled the mirror back, and when it landed, it reflected the blackness of the hold.

Alice shrank back, scared of the grimy man now grinning at her lecherously. "'Ello, poppet." He forced her up, and was trying to drag her back with him when her foot stepped on the mirror. Then it slid _through_ the mirror. Suddenly, she was sliding free of the man's grasp, sinking into the dark mirror.

After the girl's head had sank down through the entirety of the glass, it shattered. This left Pintel a bit confused. But then again, he had long ago realized that the world was full of confusing things, and those confusing things tended to gravitate about Capitan Sparrow (Especially since the adventure with the fountain of youth). He shrugged, and returned to the deck where the pirates were now removing the crew's valuables.

* * *

((Heheheheh Yayy, inside jokes! Big ol' thanks to my reviewers, alerters, and +favorite-ers. There are a lot of them! All questions will be answered by the end of the story, I hope.))


	3. Chapter 2

Crashing Through the Glass

Chapter 2

"I've been considering words that begin with the letter _D_." Was what Tarrant said when Mally asked what was wrong.

"D? May I ask why D?" she hopped up onto his had that had been resting upon the table.

"Well, so many things begin with the letter D. Depression, Despair, Doom, Down, Destruction…" He began to ramble off more morbid-sounding words beginning with a D. Then the Hatter paused, and whispered the final word so softly the dormouse barely heard it. "_...Death._"

* * *

Alice spun head over heels again and again while she fell through the black portal. Then she suddenly landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for a few moments, and once she had breath again, she sat up to see where she had landed.

It was a vaguely familiar place, as if it were a dream she had once dreamt come to life. There were mushrooms as tall as her, some taller! Everywhere brilliant mushrooms grew. She gasped in awe.

A small cloud of bluish-grey smoke drifted past her, stopped, and then began drifting back. It solidified into the form of a grinning blue-and-grey cat that floated up to eye level.

"Alice! You've returned!" he chuckled. "It is so wonderful that you have come back!"

"I'm… Sorry? Do I know you?" she asked. "You seem strangely familiar to me, but I cannot place where I have seen you before…"

"Alas, I have let my own memory run away from me. You must have thought Frabjous day to be a dream after drinking the blood of a Jabberwocky."

Suddenly, it hit her. That odd dream she had that day when Hamish had tried to propose to her. It had seemed so real, but it had faded long ago. She could remember names and faces, but not much of the whole dream itself. The hat-maker, the caterpillar, the two queens, the knave, two rabbits, a mouse, and…

"The vanishing cat!" she exclaimed. "But, it was a dream! Was it?" she herself had a few doubts as to the nature of the dream. The blue butterfly she saw the day the _HMS Wonder_ set sail was the last actual reminder she had of it. She called it 'Absolem' because the name seemed to fit.

"My my my, Alice, you have really got to stop forgetting us all the time. Poor Tarrant's lost his color because of you! Why, we never thought you would come back!" the cat grinned. "Well? What have you to say?"

"T-Tarrant…" she said. The Pirate Capitan had reminded her of the funny hat-man from her long-ago dream, but she could only think of it as a dream. "So, is this a dream as well?"

The cat laughed. "Two years and you've gone back to exactly the way you were! My my, Alice! Come, I'll take you to see him for yourself." He floated ahead of her, turned, and said "Well? Come on, then!"

Alice took one last look around, then began to follow him. She decided to try to remember what had happened in the dream the cat spoke of. It would probably explain a fair amount.

* * *

What neither Chessur or Alice saw was a figure hiding behind a nearby mushroom. They watched as the twosome left for the Hatter's house, and ran for the cover of the woods before they could be seen and identified. The true queen would want to hear of this.

* * *

((A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter is crap! I'm not very good at these sorts of scenes, but I try. But the question is, who is the mysterious figure and who are they working for? Reviewers get digital hats to wear and I would appreciate the opportunity to give them away!))


	4. Chapter 3

Crashing Through the Glass

Chapter 3

The Hatter had truly lost his color. His hat was not upon his head, his eyes had faded into a miserable slate grey, his hair now limply dangling strands of a different shade, and even his clothing reflected his mood. There had been no color in him for a very long time.

He leaned on the armrest of his chair, staring at the sky with melancholy. He never realized how much he would miss Alice until she had gone again. He had been absolutely certain she would stay this time. Yet she hadn't.

The first time she had left, she was still a little girl, far too small to stay. He had missed her, but understood her reason for leaving. She had returned again, not a year later, but was still far too small to stay for more than a day. But then the Red Queen had unleashed the Jabberwocky, and he had become preoccupied with trying to survive.

But this last time, he could find no reason for her leaving. Not one. So he returned to the never-ending tea party, certain she would not return. Jabberwocky blood would make her believe it all a dream, and those from outside Underland rarely believed in their dreams. They were terribly boring that way.

* * *

Alice was managing to remember her 'dream' from years before rather successfully. She and Chessur were slowly working their way through the woods, heading in the direction of Thackery's endless tea party.

"…What happened after I left with the Vorpal Sword? I would rather like to know how Tarrant managed to get away."

"Well, I convinced him to let me take his place at the execution; everyone knows you can't behead a head with no body! Although, he did seem rather miffed at losing his hat, even if it was temporary." Chess sighed at the memory of the hat. "Such a lovely hat. He never even wears it anymore; I see no reason for him not to give it to me."

They reached the clearing. Alice gasped at the sight in front of them. It was as it had been left; a long table covered with cracked china teacups, old plates, and various implements used for the enjoyment of tea. The main differences, though, were that it was silent, and at the end Tarrant usually sat at, there was a grayscale smudge. _Just as Chessur said,_ Alice thought. _The Hatter has lost his color._

"You see what I mean? He's faded away into this dreary thing." The cat said. "I'd suggest you walk out where he can see you." He nudged Alice forward with a paw.

She took a step, warily. Her dear friend wasn't moving much, and it worried her. She took another step, and a twig snapped under her foot. Tarrant looked up.

When he saw her, he gasped. Suddenly, color and life surged through him. He returned to his normal shades in a matter of moments. He beamed at her. "Alice!"

* * *

((A/N: I got the idea that Hatter can change so drastically by watching an interview with Johnny Depp. He mentions that Tarrant's emotions are 'very close to the surface…He's like a giant mood ring.' Also, I wanted to explore the eyes-change-color idea. I'll probably write about that idea further in another ficcy after I finish this one. Reviewers get digital tea, just don't be late or I'll have Thackery throw it at you.))


	5. Chapter 4

Crashing Through the Glass

Chapter 4

Tarrant could not contain his joy at seeing her again. Her dashed across the top of the table, not caring what he broke on his way over. Upon reaching the ground, he grabbed her by her wrists and spun her about, to make sure she was really real.

"Alice! You're back! You're back you're back you're back you're back! And you're the proper size for an Alice too, not too tall or too small or too-" he stopped. His color faded a bit and his eyes returned to their former grey shade. "Is this a dream?"

"I'm not sure. I thought it was, but I'm beginning to think it's not." Alice said, worried to see her dear friend so depressed.

He smiled, and returned to his normal coloration. "You simply _must_ tell me of all that has happened. Is the otherside as dreadfully boring as you left it? Why, you're almost late for tea! Come, come! Sit and we shall tell each other of what has happened since we parted!" He dragged her back across the table, and sat her down in the chair next to him. "So, tell me what has happened to you to take you away from Underland and bring you back!"

Alice giggled at him, then began to tell her story of what had happened to her since she left Underland for the otherside.

* * *

The shadowed figure ran with the speed of the wind, toward the western woods. _If Alice, the slayer of Jabberwocky, has returned, my queen will want to know._ They thought as they leapt over creeks and rocks.

The edge of Iracebeth's 'territory' was marked by a line of stakes, some of them with heads on them, some without. The most prominent was now a skull, stripped of its flesh by time and the weather. Over the left eye, is a heart-shaped eye patch. The sign below it read 'Traitors of the True Queen Beware.'

The figure paused, reflected on this, and then resumed their way into the woods. Her long hair would catch on the branches, and so she pulled it back with a bit of twine.

Upon reaching the clearing where Iracebeth lived, she loosed her hair and removed her red gloves. She made her way into her queen's tent with the news of the return of the hated Alice.

"My queen." She bowed. "There is most troubling news from the Forest of Mushrooms."

"Well? Out with it, or I'll cut off your head." Time has forced the once feared Red Queen to adopt a more practical wardrobe. Simple outfits made of easily obtained material replaced her once glorious gowns, and upon her head rests no crown.

"Our most hated enemy has returned from the otherside. I saw this myself. Alice, slayer of the Jabberwocky has returned to Underland!"

* * *

((A/N: Dun dun duuuuuunnnn! We learn what the figure from chapter 2 was doing! She was spying for The Red Queen! Of course, this OC needs a name. Tell you what; I'll use the best name I'm sent by you, my reviewers. I hope I get some good ones! And I'm sorry for such short chappies. -_-))


	6. Chapter 5

Crashing Through the Glass

Chapter 5

((A/N: this will be the first of the new, longer chapters! The hunt for a good OC name is still on, so keep sending them in, please! Now, onward!))

Shortly after Alice had sat down, Chessur joined the group. He was met by a flying cup and two glares. He grinned, and began fiddling with his cup. "I'd hoped we'd put all that behind us, Tarrant."

The hatter refrained from saying anything, opting instead to focus his attention on the other new guest.

"So, Alice, since this is not a dream to either me or you, please tell me, do you remember?" He smiled expectantly.

"Remember what, Tarrant?" Alice asked. "What happened last time I was here? Umm… Frabjous Day?"

"Ah! She does remember!" He laughed. "The lovely day where the lovely Alice slayed the ferocious Jabberwocky and freed all of Underland from the horrid reign of the deposed Red Queen."

"What has happened here since then? I would very much like to know."

"Well, it is to the best of my knowledge that she beheaded her miserable knave, resides far to the west in the wild woods, the castle where she once lived was torn down and everyone is happy!" he rambled on as he counted these events on his fingers. "And now you're back, so we can get on with the slaying and the… Oh, wait! That was last time!"

Alice smiled at her slightly mad friend. "Was it foretold in the ora… oraca… the um…" she gestured a bit before Chess corrected her.

"Oraculum, Alice. It is an Oraculum." He returned to his tea, muttering about silly humans and whatnot.

"Thank you, Chessur. I can remember these things, but it's a bit hard sometimes. I _was_ gone for two years." She returned to Tarrant. "Speaking of, I saw a funny man who looked an awful lot like you shortly I fell through that mirror that brought me here."

"Did he have a hat? Was it a nice hat?" the wheels started spinning in the hat-makers head.

"I think so. But I was running at the time and didn't really look. But it was rather odd. You two did look eerily familiar. It reminded me of you, even if I couldn't remember who you were at the time."

They talked for a rather long time, Alice telling of her adventures, and Tarrant telling her of what had occurred since Frabjous Day. Nobody noticed the shadows getting longer until Thackery held up his watch and shouted "Its ticking!"

Hatter held his own watch to his ear. "Time has begun moving again! He must be celebrating the return of Alice as well!" Then he looked at the sky. "Oh, my! We should have been moving hours ago! We'll never get to Mamoreal before dark if we leave now!"

"Mamoreal? Why do we need to go there?" Alice asked.

"The White Queen would simply be overjoyed at seeing her champion in Underland again. I guess I can go alert her of your presence, then." Chessur said somewhat begrudgingly, and then he evaporated.

Tarrant was glad to see him go. "Well, you can stay here with us for tonight, and we will set off for Mamoreal first thing in the morning!"

It would be fitting that the home of the best (and probably last) hatter in all of Underland be shaped like a hat. It appeared to be made of whatever wood could be found, all cobbled together to form a semi-coherent hat-shape.

Mallymkun was riding on the brim of his hat (It had been hiding under the table to escape his gloominess). She was hiding behind the fancy peacock hatpin and glaring at Alice.

"I know what you're doing, Mally." Tarrant said. "Please stop now."

"I don't like it. Not one bit. What is she _doing_ here? The oraculum never foretold this! It has to be bad news for all of us if she's come back."

Tarrant rolled his eyes at the mouse, plucking her off his hat by the tail. "Shush, Mallymkun. You forget that the oraculum has only been unrolled partway. The wax seals are not to be broken except for every set number of years. Besides, were your ancestors welcomed openly when they first found Underland? No! Now shush." He dropped her into his pocket before she could get out her hatpin and stab him in the hand _again_.

Alice nearly tripped over a tree root that stuck out of the ground. "Oh!" she stumbled forward, but was grabbed on the arm by Tarrant before she could implant her face into the ground.

"Careful, now!" He smiled. "The trees are a bit selfish; they just plant their roots wherever they please!"

"Thank you, Hatter." She smiled and blushed a little. Before either of them could say anything else, Mally stabbed Tarrant's leg through the pocket she was stuffed into.

"Ow! Mally, I put you in there so you would not do that to me!" He reached in and pulled the mouse out by her tail, suffering a few more wounds in the process. "Naughty mouse! You may take yourself home!" He sat her on the ground behind the tree root that had nearly tripped Alice. "Come now, Alice!" He took her arm and led her to his home.

((I will say only this about my absence from : Writer's block is a BITCH. I'm still in need of good names for the OC working for Iracebeth, and hopefully will be able to get some more writing done soon. I'm not sure what to give my reviewers, so I think I'll toss all those ideas out the window and try something radical: Reviewers get photos of Tarrant making out with Stayne! Or, if you don't like slash, I'll send you one of him and Alice! R&R!))


	7. Chapter 6

Crashing through the glass

Chapter 6

It was morning, and the oddity of this whole situation had finally sunk in the rest of the way. Alice was stuck in Underland until she could find a new way out. Of course, the chances of there still being Jabberwocky blood lying around were slim.

Tarrant had allowed Alice to sleep in a actual bed (his), and whittled the night away on what had once been a couch of sorts. Once the sun had peeked in the windows, the two (plus Mallymkun) left for the castle of the White Queen. Tarrant reasoned that it would be at least three days on foot. And since Alice was not the size of a doll this time, he couldn't just run with her in his pocket.

Then he remembered the mouse in his pocket. After apologies, promises of cheese and even a tiny hat, she agreed to not try to stab him in the leg again. Of course, she never promised to not stab him in the hand every time he tried to pull something out of the pocket she was now riding in.

* * *

It was beginning to darken, and the party was not nearly as far as they wanted to be along. The hatter had mentioned quite frequently that it was dangerous to be in the woods at night, but Alice was rather unaccustomed to such continuous walking. So, they all had to make camp in a small clearing.

"This isn't safe! Tarrant, why aren't we out of these miserable woods yet?" Mally asked, irritated.

"Mally, please! We can't very well _fly_ to Mamoreal. We must walk until we can find some horses willing to let us ride." Tarrant argued to the mouse. "Now off to bed with ye!"

After the mouse left the two alone, Alice began to wonder aloud about her current predicament.

"Tarrant, do you know why I ended up back here? I've been thinking all day and I haven't come up with a single idea!"

"Well, Underland always calls back it's own. Didn't you know?" The hatter said absentmindedly.

"Can… can you repeat that?" Alice was a bit confused.

"Alice, my dear, Underland doesn't let in humans anymore. Animals, yes, but not humans." Tarrant wrinkled his nose. "I thought you knew- you've been and gone so many times!"

"Knew what?" Alice was worried now. "Tarrant… What are you saying?"

"Why Alice, you must have already known- at least, I thought you did. You have to at least be half Underlander to come back from the OtherSide!"

* * *

She had been planning to ambush the two travelers once they fell asleep, but this new revelation was more important. She had to tell the Queen.

* * *

((A/N: EIGHT BILLION MILLION TRILLION apologies for leaving you all hanging for so long! Stuff happened, and now I'm in college, and I had a boyfriend who dumped me and now I have a new boyfriend. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE- forgive me! I'll even give you cupcakes! (Don't worry, Pinkie Pie didn't make them) But please forgive me for being such a terrible authoress!))


End file.
